
After scoring a win in the season-opener at St. Petersburg, and a very close runner-up finish at Texas, the 29-year-old New Zealand had not scored a top five over the next five rounds.
However, at Mid-Ohio he started second, tracked early leader Pato O’Ward very closely over the first stint, so that he was less than 0.8s behind the polesitter when the Arrow McLaren SP driver pitted.